Final talks for Trapattoni

SOCCER:John Delaney arrived in Salzburg last night in advance of talks today which, the FAI chief executive hopes, will end with Giovanni Trapattoni signing a contract to become the new Republic of Ireland manager when the current Austrian league season finishes in April.

There was considerable confidence within the Irish camp yesterday that the detail of a deal, the broad outline of which has already been agreed, can be wrapped up today, and the association have called a press conference for tomorrow at 5pm to confirm the Italian's appointment.

Sources close to the former Juventus boss cautioned last night, however, that a number of points need to be sorted out before a deal can completed. In particular, the 68-year-old is looking for clarification with regard to his salary and assurances that the FAI, who had apparently not talked directly to Red Bull Salzburg as of yesterday afternoon, will do so to secure official clearance, however belatedly, for the approach.

Trapattoni is said to have been annoyed by the fact that the rapidity of the association's initial approach last week prevented him from informing his club chairman, Dietrich Mateschitz, of his interest in holding talks about the job.

That approach is said to have been made on the FAI's behalf by English agent Jerome Anderson, whose Sports Media and Entertainment (SEM) group have become a major force in the English game in recent years, having initially been built up on the back of their owners' close ties with Arsenal.

Anderson, who played a key part in the recent takeover of Manchester City, their appointment of Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager and the purchase of many of the club's new players, made contact with Trapattoni on behalf of the association early last week, and he acted as intermediary between the parties up until the weekend.

As a result of the groundwork carried out, Trapattoni, who earns around €1.4 million net of tax with the Austrian champions, expects to earn a similar amount with the FAI, and the way has been paved for him to bring with him both the World Cup-winning centre-half Claudio Gentile as his assistant and Salzburg's Italian fitness coach Fausto Rossi, a long-time associate who was previously at Benfica with him.

Though they are said to originally have wanted an entirely Irish backroom, the involvement of Gentile, a stalwart of Trapattoni's Juventus defence in the early and mid-1980s will hardly upset the FAI. After a glittering career as a player, the 54-year-old managed the Italian under-21s to the European Championship title in 2004 and should bring a good deal to the table.

The rest of the management team would be Irish, and while Trapattoni has not pushed for Liam Brady to have a role it is anticipated the Dubliner would, at the association's behest, be informally involved, most likely as a part-time European style team manager.

Speaking at the launch of an initiative yesterday to promote football within third-level colleges across Ireland, Delaney declined to actually confirm Trapattoni as the man the FAI plan to unveil tomorrow, but he expressed confidence that the new manager is "somebody we should all be excited about".

Delaney conceded the search for the new manager had taken longer than had been hoped, but expressed considerable satisfaction at the way it is shaping up to conclude. "There would have been no point in it being quick and for us to just get somebody for the sake of expediency," he said. "It was important this time around that we made the right appointment. In the last five years the team hasn't done as well as people would have hoped and it's important we get somebody now who can maximise our chances of getting the best out of our squad. I'm confident that this appointment will do that."

There was, he confirmed, some negotiating still to be done, but, he remarked, "I was thrilled last night when Don rang me to say, 'Listen, I think we're getting somewhere in terms of the appointment and would you call a meeting for Wednesday'.

"We certainly have a preferred candidate and I'm thrilled about that. There's are bits and pieces still to be done - details around the package have to be worked through - but I'm confident that come Wednesday night we'll be a in a position to name our next new manager."

He said he hopes the new appointment will enable the association to "draw a line in the sand with regard to what has been a difficult year and a half for everybody involved in Irish football".

Asked about reports that a benefactor has offered to pay around €1 million of the new manager's salary, Delaney said he could not comment until tomorrow but added "there has been no pressure, either internally or externally, on the three-man sub-committee to make a particular appointment".

With regard to the chances available to the new coach to get to know his squad, he said there will be the option of at least one more game or a training camp to go with the friendly against Serbia in May. "We've got plans around May for sure, and we'll announce them." The schedule he concluded, "will be up to the new manager".

Meanwhile Trapattoni's imminent appointment has been welcomed by former manager John Giles. "I'm delighted about it. At the start of this process if we thought we could get a man like Trapattoni we'd all be delighted. I hope it's finalised now. . .

On Trapattoni's age (69 on St. Patrick's Day) he added: "I think in management it's more mental than physical because you can employ people to do the training and a manger oversees everything. With his experience I don't see his age being a problem."

On Liam Brady's possible role in the backroom team Giles said: "It would be a wise move to get Liam involved because Liam is obviously familiar with the players . . . he would be a big asset to him [Trapattoni].